Read Online Dark inheritance by Roberta Leigh - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Roberta Leigh
Tags: Romance - Harlequin
Ads: Link
the driver in a mixture of English and Greek and Barbara noticed the immediate deference with which the man answered him. There was some thing to be said after all for being with a male escort, she thought, and she settled herself against the moth-eaten upholstery with a comfortable sigh.
"Have we far to go?" she asked.
"Not very. We drive through Piraeus first—not too prepossessing, I'm afraid, but necessary."
Rockwood had spoken the truth, for it was anything but prepossessing—a straggling, summary area of mean streets and squalid houses, the children running bare foot over the cobbles. But the road became straight and wide once they were out of the town, and to the left the land was fiat waste, to the right the sea, and ahead of them in the distance loomed the twin hills between which Athens was built, the silhouette of the Acropolis rearing high above the city.
Buildings began to close in again upon the road, and presently they were in the suburbs of Athens itself, the houses no longer scrimpy and individual but the communal dwellings of the metropolis.
"I shall tell the driver to take us to Constitution Place first," Rockwood said. "It's the centre of the city and we can start our sight-seeing from there."
Barbara stared out of the window, faintly disap pointed to find that Athens was much like any other city, although the brilliant blue sky and the frequent use of marble gave it a distinction lacking in other Mediterranean capitals.
With a suddenness that nearly threw her off the seat the taxi jerked to a halt on one side of a big square, and Rockwood helped her out.
"I think we'll have a cup of coffee and then you can take your bearings," he said, and led her to one of the many side-walk cafe's, where they sat down at a table on the pavement, shaded from the glare of the sun by a striped awning.
As they sipped their coffee Barbara surveyed the square. Most of one side was taken up by the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the other three sides enclosed a small park and were bordered by buildings whose ground floors were mostly side-walk cafes like the one at which they were sitting.
But her eye skipped the unhappy mixture of shabby and new surrounding them and rose towards the flat, table-like top of the Acropolis, gleaming white in the morning sun.
"How beautiful it is," she sighed. "I can hardly be lieve I'm here. Imagine it—me in Athens really looking at the Acropolis!"
"When you've finished your coffee we can go and see it at close quarters."
Eagerly she drained her cup and looked around for their taxi-driver. "He's not here," she said in surprise.
"I thought we'd walk," Rockwood said with a half-smile.
"All the way?"
"At least to the foot of the hill. It isn't as far as it looks, you know. It's the height that makes it seem further away than it really is." He took her arm and they set off. "I'm not making you walk merely to inflict exercise on you—although it won't do cither of us any harm after being cooped up on board ship for so long —but when you've been through the teeming bustle of the city you'll appreciate the quiet solitude of the temples all the more."
Barbara digested this in silence. "I'm afraid you'll find me awfully ignorant."
"How can you be expected to know all about it if you've never been here before? I remember on my first visit I could hardly believe that such an historic place was so accessible to the people of Athens, but it is— by foot, in less than half an hour any Athenian can reach his Acropolis."
As he talked they left the square behind them walking until they reached more shabby suburbs that straggled to the foot of the hill rising ahead of them. Here Rock- wood hailed another taxi and they drove the rest of the steep ascent, coming to a halt by a turnstile at the side of the road. The entrance was swarming with vendors of shiny picture postcards of the Acropolis and its tem ples, who thrust their wares into their faces as they went through the
"Have we far to go?" she asked.
"Not very. We drive through Piraeus first—not too prepossessing, I'm afraid, but necessary."
Rockwood had spoken the truth, for it was anything but prepossessing—a straggling, summary area of mean streets and squalid houses, the children running bare foot over the cobbles. But the road became straight and wide once they were out of the town, and to the left the land was fiat waste, to the right the sea, and ahead of them in the distance loomed the twin hills between which Athens was built, the silhouette of the Acropolis rearing high above the city.
Buildings began to close in again upon the road, and presently they were in the suburbs of Athens itself, the houses no longer scrimpy and individual but the communal dwellings of the metropolis.
"I shall tell the driver to take us to Constitution Place first," Rockwood said. "It's the centre of the city and we can start our sight-seeing from there."
Barbara stared out of the window, faintly disap pointed to find that Athens was much like any other city, although the brilliant blue sky and the frequent use of marble gave it a distinction lacking in other Mediterranean capitals.
With a suddenness that nearly threw her off the seat the taxi jerked to a halt on one side of a big square, and Rockwood helped her out.
"I think we'll have a cup of coffee and then you can take your bearings," he said, and led her to one of the many side-walk cafe's, where they sat down at a table on the pavement, shaded from the glare of the sun by a striped awning.
As they sipped their coffee Barbara surveyed the square. Most of one side was taken up by the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the other three sides enclosed a small park and were bordered by buildings whose ground floors were mostly side-walk cafes like the one at which they were sitting.
But her eye skipped the unhappy mixture of shabby and new surrounding them and rose towards the flat, table-like top of the Acropolis, gleaming white in the morning sun.
"How beautiful it is," she sighed. "I can hardly be lieve I'm here. Imagine it—me in Athens really looking at the Acropolis!"
"When you've finished your coffee we can go and see it at close quarters."
Eagerly she drained her cup and looked around for their taxi-driver. "He's not here," she said in surprise.
"I thought we'd walk," Rockwood said with a half-smile.
"All the way?"
"At least to the foot of the hill. It isn't as far as it looks, you know. It's the height that makes it seem further away than it really is." He took her arm and they set off. "I'm not making you walk merely to inflict exercise on you—although it won't do cither of us any harm after being cooped up on board ship for so long —but when you've been through the teeming bustle of the city you'll appreciate the quiet solitude of the temples all the more."
Barbara digested this in silence. "I'm afraid you'll find me awfully ignorant."
"How can you be expected to know all about it if you've never been here before? I remember on my first visit I could hardly believe that such an historic place was so accessible to the people of Athens, but it is— by foot, in less than half an hour any Athenian can reach his Acropolis."
As he talked they left the square behind them walking until they reached more shabby suburbs that straggled to the foot of the hill rising ahead of them. Here Rock- wood hailed another taxi and they drove the rest of the steep ascent, coming to a halt by a turnstile at the side of the road. The entrance was swarming with vendors of shiny picture postcards of the Acropolis and its tem ples, who thrust their wares into their faces as they went through the
Similar Books
